This page organizes the solved example problems that use momentum and force into several common categories. Most problems appear in more than one category. An alphabetical list of momentum problems is shown in the table of contents in the left navigation bar.
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Impulse
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Watch Your Head — Consider the impulse and average force delivered to the head of a player performing a "header" in soccer.
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Head-on Collision — Compare the forces on the occupants of two cars in a 1-D totally inelastic collision.
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Momentum Transport — Analyzing a continuous momentum flux (water from a hose).
One-Dimensional Collisions
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Head-on Collision — Compare the forces on the occupants of two cars in a 1-D totally inelastic collision.
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Momentum Transport — Analyzing a continuous momentum flux (water from a hose).
Two-Dimensional Collisions
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Out of Bounds — A typical perfectly inelastic collision in 2-D.
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Cue the Right-Angle Bracket — Learn a valuable shortcut for dealing with a specific kind of elastic collision.
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A Walk on the Pond — How far will two children slide after a perfectly inelastic collision?
Totally Inelastic Collisions
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Out of Bounds — A typical perfectly inelastic collision in 2-D.
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Head-on Collision — Compare the forces on the occupants of two cars in a 1-D totally inelastic collision.
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A Walk on the Pond — How far will two children slide after a perfectly inelastic collision?
Elastic Collisions
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Cue the Right-Angle Bracket — Learn a valuable shortcut for dealing with a specific kind of elastic collision.
Constant Momentum
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Out of Bounds — A typical perfectly inelastic collision in 2-D.
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Let it Rain — Analyzing a continuous momentum flux (falling water).
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Cue the Right-Angle Bracket — Learn a valuable shortcut for dealing with a specific kind of elastic collision.
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Head-on Collision — Compare the forces on the occupants of two cars in a 1-D totally inelastic collision.
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A Walk on the Pond — How far will two children slide after a perfectly inelastic collision?
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Momentum Transport — Analyzing a continuous momentum flux (water from a hose).
Continuous Momentum Flux
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Let it Rain — Analyzing a continuous momentum flux (falling water).
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Momentum Transport — Analyzing a continuous momentum flux (water from a hose).
Vector Components
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Pushing a Box Some More — A person pushes a box of mass 15 kg along a smooth floor by applying a force F at an angle of 30° below the horizontal.
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Finding Normal — Several examples showing how to find the normal force in common situations.
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Is That Normal? — Several examples illustrating how to find the normal force in not-so-common situations.
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Pushing a Box with Friction Some More — A person pushes a box of mass 15 kg along a floor by applying a force F at an angle of 30° below the horizontal. There is friction between the box and the floor
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Rope Bridge — The tension in ropes supporting an object can sometimes be much larger than the object's weight.
Normal Force
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Apparently I've Lost Weight — Finding apparent weight using normal force.
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Finding Normal — Several examples showing how to find the normal force in common situations.
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Is That Normal? — Several examples illustrating how to find the normal force in not-so-common situations.
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Pushing a Box with Friction Some More — A person pushes a box of mass 15 kg along a floor by applying a force F at an angle of 30° below the horizontal. There is friction between the box and the floor
Inclined Planes
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I'm Inclined to Tilt the Coordinates — Basic inclined plane problems illustrating the advantage of tilted coordinates.
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Path Independence — An illustration of the path independence of gravitational work.
Static Friction
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Close the Gate — Classic example of static friction on a moving surface.
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Basics of Static Friction — An introduction to determining the size of the static friction force.
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The Ladder Problem — A standard statics problem.
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Sliding Yardstick — What happens to a yardstick (or meter stick) supported by two fingers as those fingers are slowly moved toward each other?
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Banking the Curve — Two examples of drawing free body diagrams for objects navigating a banked curve.
Kinetic Friction
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Pushing a Box with Friction — Assuming the coefficient of kinetic friction between the box and the ground is 0.45, what is the magnitude of F?
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Why are you always so negative? — Explore the reason that kinetic friction usually produces negative work.
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Pushing a Box with Friction Some More — A person pushes a box of mass 15 kg along a floor by applying a force F at an angle of 30° below the horizontal. There is friction between the box and the floor
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Locking Your Bike — Determine how the weight of a bicycle plus rider is divided between the wheels in various circumstances.
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A Walk on the Pond — How far will two children slide after a perfectly inelastic collision?
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Down the Alley — Determine the final speed of a ball that is initially sliding without rotation.
Centripetal Force
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Roller Coaster Diet? — A good roller coaster uses significant turning accelerations to produce large swings in the rider's apparent weight.
Tension
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Atwood's Machine — The standard pulley problem as an example of systems.
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Rope Bridge — The tension in ropes supporting an object can sometimes be much larger than the object's weight.